Leverkusen/Jakarta, October 17, 2018 – As part of its disaster relief program, Bayer is making EUR 115,000 available in immediate assistance for people impacted by the severe earthquake and subsequent tsunami in the Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi. This aid is meant to support the relief operations for the affected communities in and around the provincial capital of Palu. The donation will go to the local foundation Mercy Corps Indonesia, which will use the funds to provide clean water, sanitary facilities and hygiene kits, and to distribute emergency food and logistical support to health services. Mercy Corps Indonesia is a long-standing strategic partner of Bayer in the area of disaster relief.

President Director Bayer Indonesia, Angel Michael Evangelista: “Our hearts go out to the victims of the calamity in Central Sulawesi. Bayer’s management and employees worldwide express our solidarity with you as we hope our contribution will be able to support in the relief and reconstruction efforts.”

In addition, Bayer employees in ASEAN have also launched the Bayer Employees’ Solidarity Fund, which provides a platform for employees to give a voluntary monetary donation. The employees’ donations will also be matched by the company up to EUR 10,000 and the donation will also be handed over to Mercy Corps Indonesia.

“A lack of clean water and sanitation infrastructure means that hygiene levels in the camps are likely to deteriorate without intervention, and this poses a serious threat of them becoming incubators for diseases like cholera or dysentery,” says Genadi Aryawan, a member of Mercy Corps Indonesia’s response team in Palu, reporting on the cramped conditions in the camps for survivors.

On September 28, 2018, the Indonesian province of Central Sulawesi was hit by multiple major earthquakes, which were followed by a tsunami. Thousands of people perished or are still missing. Tens of thousands of people have lost their homes and are in need of medical assistance.

Providing disaster relief is part of Bayer’s social commitment. The company follows a dual strategy to help people affected by acute hardship: when disaster strikes, Bayer provides immediate assistance – either by donating money and medicines or by making material donations to help rebuild infrastructure. In addition, Bayer AG’s charitable foundation, the Bayer Cares Foundation, supports long-term reconstruction projects.

The company reserves EUR 1.5 million annually for these measures. In 2018, EUR 224,000 has already been used to aid flood victims in China and India. In 2017, 12 immediate assistance projects received donations of money, medicines and products worth more than EUR 1.3 million.

Bayer Cares Foundation
As the social impact foundation of the innovation company Bayer, the Bayer Cares Foundation sees itself as initiator, promoter and partner for innovation at the interface between academia, industry and civil society. The programs are focused on people – their commitment to societal progress, their wealth of ideas in fulfilling social challenges, and those that arise in times of emergency. The foundation’s funding activities are a central element of Bayer’s global corporate societal engagement (CSE) of around EUR 50 million annually – with the focus on promoting frontier science and social innovations connected to the UN’s Global Development Goals of Zero Hunger and Health and Well-Being.

Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.